Former inmate says ex-cop electric-shocked and choked him

Inside the interrogation room almost four decades ago, Anthony Holmes testified Thursday, he looked around at the other detectives as then-Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge electric-shocked and choked him.

Somebody would help, say "that is enough," Holmes said he thought at the time. But no one did, he said at a sentencing hearing for Burge, 63.

Since that day in 1973, Holmes said, he dreams of that room, that he is still there and that, again, no one comes to help. Holmes eventually confessed to murder and went to prison, losing contact with most of his family and suffering long-term emotional pain.

"I just slipped through the cracks," said Holmes, who was imprisoned for a decade. "I had to get help myself. I survived."

Holmes was the first of five prosecution witnesses to testify Thursday in U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's courtroom. The judge could sentence Burge Friday after hearing from additional witnesses, some on Burge's behalf.

A federal jury convicted Burge, who retired as a commander, in June of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about the abuse of suspects at the South Side detective division where he was assigned as a lieutenant in the 1970s and 1980s.

Lefkow ruled Thursday that Burge could face between 21 and 27 months in prison, but prosecutors argue he deserves a stiffer sentence, saying he has tainted law-abiding officers, compromised community trust in law enforcement and cost the city millions of dollars in lawsuits. Burge's attorneys seek leniency, pointing to his military service in Vietnam and Korea as well as his prostate cancer fight.

Dozens of spectators waited in line hoping for a seat in the packed courtroom. Community activists and attorneys who have long called for justice on behalf of Burge's alleged victims sat shoulder to shoulder with relatives of men whom he allegedly tortured.

Burge, dressed in a dark suit, grew animated during testimony from a former police detective who described the stories he heard of abuse under Burge. But for most of the day, he showed little reaction — even when Holmes, reading from a written statement, asked him a question.

"Why did you do this? … You were supposed to be the law."

Other prosecution witnesses Thursday described the alleged pain inflicted by Burge and sketched out how they believe that ongoing, systemic police abuses wound entire communities.

Howard Saffold, a former Chicago police officer, said he tracked police abuse as an officer working for the Afro-American Patrolmen's League. He has continued the work as a community activist.

"This case puts the entire justice system on trial," Saffold testified. "When it's done with malice and forethought, it challenges the entire system."

Another former police detective, Sammy Lacey, said he had heard stories about tactics used by Burge on the midnight shift and said his detectives were referred to as the "A team." When asked what that meant, he said it meant they were "the a-kicking team."

Melvin Jones, another accuser, said his interaction with Burge forever altered his view of police. Up until then, he understood they had a job to do, he said.

"The day I was up in that room … he changed (it) dramatically,'' Jones said.